Electrical relay contact support and relay indexing



April s, 1958 w. B. WELLS ELECTRICAL RELAY CONTACT SUPPORT AND RELAYINDEXING Filed Deo.

2 Sheets-Sheet l April 8, 1958 w. awELLs 2,830,139

ELECTRICAL RELAY CONTACT SUPPORT ND RELAY INDEXING Filed Dec. 14, 1954 2Sheets-Sheetl 2 0000000090 @To 4 Ooooo @aoco 01264567@ 43 )Il V 55 l#)=1 Z 1N VEN TOR. Wsy was BY i A HIS ATTRZVEY ELECTRICAL RELAY CNTACTSUPPORT AND RELAY ENDEXING Application December l14, 1954, Serial No.475,224

6 Claims. (Cl. 20G- 1) My invention relates to electrical relays of theplug-in type, and more particularly to a novel means for securing thecontacts of a relay of the type described to a relay trame, and a novelmeans for indexing a relay of the plugin type to its mounting base.

In some previous relays of the plug-in type considerable difficulty hasbeen encountered in maintaining a rigid insulated support for thesecured ends of the contact member or lugs of a relay under varyingtemperatures, humidity conditions and vibrations. It has further beenfound that in some previous relays difficulty has been encountered inproviding suiiicient indexing digits to distinguish between a largenumber of relays of the plug-in type. For example,`in some cases, it wasnecessary to use the same indexing for relays that were not identicalbut were of a general type grouping.

It is therefore an object of my invention lto provide a novel relaycontact support structure that substantially prevents contactdisplacement within the support structure.

Another object of my invention is to provide a novel plug-in relayindexing means providing an extremely large number of digitcombinations.

Another object of my invention is to provide a novel plug-in relaycontact support and indexing means that is simple in structure andinexpensive to manuifacture.

Other objects, purposes and characteristic features of my invention willbe in part obvious from the accompanying drawings and in part pointedout as the description of my invention progresses.

In practicing my invention I provide a relay of the plug-in type whosecontacts are firmly iixed within an insulating support block in such amanner as to hold their positions within the support block withoutvarying due to changes in vibration, temperature or humidity conditions.The relay of my invention is further provided with an indexing meansthat presents a substantial number of indexing combinations to providefor a different indexing for each relay.

In describing my invention in detail reference will be made to theaccompanying drawings in which corresponding parts are generallyidentified by corresponding reference characters and in which:

Fig. 1 is a vertical sectional view showing one form of plug-in relayinvolving my invention.

Fig. la is a partly sectioned vertical View of the mounting base for theplug-in relay of Fig. l.

Fig. 2 is a front view of the mounting base of Fig. la taken along theline II-II, showing the indexing openings for receiving the indexingpins of the relay of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a view taken along the lines Ill-III of Fig. l showing a viewf the plug-in end of the relay.

Fig. 4 is an exploded View of the contact support block of the relayshowing details of the securing means for the contact members.

Fig. 5 is a sectional View taken along the line V-V of Fig. 2 showingthe indexing plate.

Fig. 6 is a sectional View taken substantially along the tates ate lineVI-VI of Fig. 3 for showing the securing of the indexing pin in therelay frame.

Fig. 7 is an enlarged cross sectional view of the contact members andtheir securing means taken on the line VII-VII of Fig. 4.

Referring to the drawings, the relay comprises a frame member 1 ofsuitable nonmagnetic material such die-cast aluminum. 'the frame member1 consists of a vertical portion 35 and an integral horizontal forwardlyextending portion 36. The portion 36 includes two pole pieces 3 and 4which are preferably irst machined and are then cast into the horizontalportion 36 of the frame member l. The two pole pieces 3 and 4i areL-shaped and are secured within the horizontal portion 36 of the framemember with an end 37 of each projecting above or flush with the uppersurface of the horizontal portion 36 of the frame member 1. The upperends 37 of the L-shaped pole pieces 3 and 4 are subsequently ground toprovide a good magnetic contact with a core member 5 that passes throughand supports an energizing coil 2. The core member 5 is secured to thehorizontal portion 36 of the frame member 1 and against the upper ends37 of the Lshaped core members 3 and i by bolts 38. The L- shaped polepieces 3 and 4 are so positioned within the portion 36 that a portion ofnonmagnetic material is located between the adjacent ends 66.

Armature 6 is pivotally secured to the vertical portion 35 of the framemember 1 by a suitable hinge construction comprising a support block 8and hinge springs '7, one of which is vertically disposed so as toprevent vertical displacement of the armature and is secured to thesupport block 8 by the screw 8a and to the armature 6 by the screw 6a.The other hinge spring is horizontally disposed to prevent horizontaldisplacement of the armature 6. The horizontally disposed hinge spring 7is secured to the support block 8 by screws 8b and to the armature 6 bythe screw 6b. The block 8 is secured to the portion 35 by support blockadjusting screws 9 passing through enlarged openings 76 in frame memberl. and threaded into suitable screw openings 8d, in the block 3. Withthis arrangement the armature air gap between the pole pieces 3 and 4,in the frame It, and armature 6 may be adjusted by shifting the armaturesupport block S vertically `along the portion 35. The armature 6underlies and cooperates with the pole pieces 3 and 4.

Supported by the pole piece 4 is a hold-down pole piece it? secured bymeans of screws i2 to a permanent magnet il.. The permanent magnet 11 isthen secured to the pole piece 4 by magnetizable bolts 39 which alsoacts as a shunt to prevent demagnetization of the magnet 1i, if themagnet is subjected to any stray flux surges'. It should be noted thatthe hold-down pole piece 1i) also serves as a backstop to limit themovement of the armature 6 away from the pole pieces 3 and 4. Thearmature 6' is provided with the usual nonmagnetic core pins 77 toprevent the armature from sticking to the pole piece 4 or to thehold-down pole piece i6.

The coil 2 has an opening 46 for receiving the core member 5. The coil 2is further provided with a coating of substantially hard insulatingmaterial which supports two electrical prongs 67 at the rear endthereof. This arrangement eliminates the necessity for passing coil leadin wires into the enclosed area of the contacts, which will hereinafterbe described, and then through the vertical portion 35 of the framemember i. Located between the coil 2 and the core member 5 within theopening'40 is a vibration dampener leaf spring 62 which tends to holdthe coil firm, thus eliminating excessive movement.

The vertical portion 35 of the frame member 1 is provided with arearwardly facing terminal receiving opening 72 for receiving theplug-in ends or lugs of the iixed contact members 4&3, the Contact basemembersA or lugs 54 (hl. at?

portion 35 of the frame member 1 and opening into the terminal opening72 is a contact block opening 33. Secured by suitable bolts 7i to theportion 35 and extending into the contact block openings 33 is a Contactsupport block 16 made of suitable insulating material.

The contact support block 16 is provided with a plurality of openings 42for receiving the ends of the fixed contact members 43 and the movablecontact base members 54. Each of the members 43 and 54 is provided withan opening 3th for receiving a projection Si of an associated pressureblock S2. Two insulated pressure blocks 82 are used to support or securetwo of the members 43 and/or 54 within a single opening 42 of thecontact support block 16. Each of the insulated pressure blocks 82 isgenerally channel-shaped in cross section. The pressure blocks 82 areused in pairs with the open sides of the channels facing each other,thus forming a substantially rectangular opening therethrough. Thebottom 86 of each of the channel blocks 82 is tapered so that therectangular opening, formed when two pressure blocks 82 are placed inopposition, is of progressively decreasing size.

Arranged for disposition within the wedge shaped opening formed by twoopposing pressure blocks 82 is a tapered wedge member 83. The taperedwedge member 83 is provided with a threaded opening 84 therethrough forreceiving a tensioning bolt S5. Adjacent to the rear end of, andextending across each of the recesses 42, of the member 16, is aninsulating bridge member S7. Each of the members S7 is provided with acentral opening d3 and an enlarged rearwardly facing head receivingportion S9. The bridge member S7 is integral with the support block 16and spaced from the upper and lower sur faces of the opening 42' asufficient amount to allow insertion of the contact members 43 and/ or54.

T o assemble the contact members within the contact support block 16 theprocedure is as follows. The insulated pressure blocks S2 are placed inposition on the contact members 43 and/ or 54 that are to be insertedinto the openings 42 in the support block 16. With the projections 81 ofthe insulating pressure blocks 82 inserted into the openings 8S, in thecontact members 43 and/or 54, the contact members 43 and/ or 54 and thepressure blocks 82 are inserted into the openings 42 with the contactmembers extending beyond the rear and front surfaces of the supportblock 1d. The wedge members 33 are then inserted into the taperingrectangular openings formed by the pressure blocks 82. The securingscrews 85 are then inserted into the recesses 88, within the bridgemembers S7, and threaded into the wedge member openings 84, in the wedgemembers 83, and tightened. The tightening of the screws 35 pull thewedge members 83 into the space between the pressure blocks 32 forcingthem outwardly and firmly against the Contact members 43 and/or 54, thatare located between the pressure blocks 82 and the walls of the openings42. The contact members are thus securely held in place against anydisplacement or change in their relative positions.

Each of the contact members 43 is provided with reinforcing ribs 45 andcontact point members 14. Each of the movable contact base members 54has secured thereto movable contact leaf members 44 of spring materialin a manner described hereinafter.

Attached to the movable armature 6 by a securing block 47 is an armaturecontact actuator drive wire 4E. The drive wire 4d is secured to thesecuring block 47 by passing it through an opening 19 in the securingblock 47. The actuator drive wire extends downwardly from the securingblock 47 and armature 6, and is secured to a contact actuator member 15.

The Contact actuator member is provided with a plurality of pins, suchas pins 52, for engaging the movable contact leaf spring members 44. Atthe upper end of the actuator member 15 is an enlarged spring seat por-Cari tion 50 and a vertically extending smaller spring guide 51.

Located between the drive wire securing block 47 and the actuator member1S, and surrounding the downwardly extending actuator drive wire 4S is acontact actuator pressure spring member 2d. The spring member 2G acts toforce the actuator member away from the armature 6, and securing bloclt47, placing the drive wire undcr tension.

Referring to the contacts, each of the movable cont base members 54 hassecured thereto, on opposite tit-:.co, one end of each of two movablecontact leaf spring members 44. Each of the two members 44 which aresecured to the same base member 54 converge and contact each other at apoint 44a. The two mem- M then diverge and again converge in such a mannthat when the unsecured ends of these members are forced together, themiddle portions are well separated. Attached to the well-separatedportion of each of the movable Contact leaf spring members 44 is anelectrical contact member 55 adapted to engage an associated one of thexed contacts 14, in a manner hereinafter described.

Formed in the members 44, between the contact members 55 and theunsecured ends of the members 44, are transverse grooves 13. When themembers 44 are inserted between adjacent pairs of movable contactprojecting pins 52 of the member 15, the transverse grooves i3 of theleaf spring members 44 engage the pins 52 firmly. ln order for thecontact leaf spring members 44 to pass between the projecting pins S2,of the member 15, the leaf spring members must be compressed. Thiscauses the unsecured ends of the contact leaf spring members 44 to comeinto contact with each other and helps to cause each of the transversegrooves 13 of thc contact leaf spring members 44 to seat against theprojecting pins 52 of the actuating member 15. This eliminates all lostmotion between the member 15 and the members 44 as well as placing theleaf spring members under an initial pressure for reducing contactbounce. The friction at contact point 44a of the leaf spring rnernbers44 further acts to aid in reducing contact bounce to a minimum.

Located within a groove 57 near the peripheral edge of the frame member1 is a gasket or filler member 58. The gasket or filler member 58 isarranged to cooperate with a transparent contact cover member 17 toprovide a weathertight seal for the relay contacts. The contact covermember is secured to the frame member 1 by suitable bolts 59. It will benoted that the cover member is provided with a projecting edge which tswithin the gasket member 58 for providing a better seal.

The portion 35 of the relay frame 1 is provided with a latch member 24for holding the plug-in relay in place on a typical mounting base member23. The mounting base member 23 is provided with a fixed hook member 22that is engageable with the latch member 24. The relay latching forms nopart of my invention and, therefore, is not described herein in detail.A detailed showing is found in the copending application to H. E.Ashworth, Serial No. 459,970, filed October 4, 1954.

Secured to the front end of the frame member 1 is a relay handle member31 provided with nger grip loops 63 and 64. The relay handle member 31is secured to the frame member 1 by suitable bolts 65.

For indexing a plug-in relay to its mounting base so that a relay cannotbe inserted into an improper position, I provide relay indexing pinsthat are receivable within mounting base openings. The relay indexingpins 73 are rolled of a material, such as sheet steel, compressed andpressed into openings such as 73a shown in Fig. 6. The relay is providedwith four vertically spaced apart rows of pin positions such as shown bythe -l-s in Fig. 3. Three of the rows contain ten possible pinpositions. The remaining row, located next to the bottom row, containsonly eight possible pin positions since the screw 9 utilizes the spacenecessary for the additional two pin positions. For indexing a relay thepins may be placed in any of the four rows and in any of the possiblepositions within each row.

rThe mounting base 23 comprises a removable indexing plate 91 providedwith four vertically spaced apart rows of centering recesses 94a whichare located in a manner to correspond with the possible positions of theindexing pins 73 previously recited. Three of the vertically spacedapart rows of recesses contain positions numbered 0 through 9. Theremaining row, which is the next to the bottom of the four rows isprovided with 8 positions numbered 0 through 3 and 6 through 9 (see Fig.2). The indexing plate 91 is secured in place over a recess 90 in themounting base 23 by a securing bolt 92.

Indexing of a relay is usually accomplished by the use of four (4)indexing pins, one to each vertically spaced apart row. The relays areidentified by a code number which includes two groups of digits. Thegroup of digits is a type number of six digits and a suflix number ofthree digits. For example, 453098-066 might be the number of the relayshown indexed in the drawings. The last two digits of the type member(or 98) correspond to the pin position of the top and second rows,respectively. 'The last two digits of the group or suflix number (or 66)are the pin positions of the third and fourth or bottom rows,respectively (see Fig. 2).

It can be seen therefore that for every suiix pin position there are 100type number pin positions, and since there are 80 different sullix pincombinations there are 8000 different possible relay indexing pincombinations using one pin to each row. This is the desired indexingsystem. However, for additional indexing it would be possible to use asingle pin in one of the rows or any combination of pins up to the totalof 38 or all of the pin positions in all four of the rows.

In new relay installations the relay, having its indexing pinsinstalled, is shipped with the indexing plate 91 which is provided withthe proper openings to correspond to the relay shipped. The indexingplate 91 is installed and secured to the mounting base Z3 by the bolt 92and remains secured to prevent the installation of another relay nothaving the characteristics of the original relay.

The relay of my invention has the advantage of complete indexing,eliminating all possibility of trouble due to improper selection of areplacement relay. My relay also has the advantage of a lirm support forthe relay contacts, eliminating objectionable contact shifting andcostly maintenance.

Although I have herein shown and described only one form of relayembodying my invention, it is to be understood that various changes andmodifications may be made therein within the scope of the appendedclaims without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. A relay contact support comprising an insulated support block havingan opening therethrough, at least one contact member provided with anopening therein,

a portion of said contact member received within said 'i support blockopening, at least one pressure block received within said support blockopening, a projection on said pressure block received within saidcontact member opening, and means for expanding said pressure block andsaid contact member outwardly against a wall of said support blockopening for firmly securing said contact member within said supportblock opening.

2. In a relay having xed and movable contacts, a means for supportingsaid contacts in an insulating manner comprising, a contact supportblock provided with a plurality of openings having insulated Walls, aplurality of contact members and contact pressure blocks located withinsaid openings, means for preventing sliding movement between saidpressure blocks and said contact members, and wedge means capable ofseparating said pressure blocks for forcing said pressure blocks andsaid contact members outwardly against the insulated walls of saidopenings.

3. In a relay having xed and movable contacts, a means for supportingsaid contacts in an insulating manner comprising, a contact supportblock provided with a plurality of openings having insulated walls, aplurality of contact members and contact pressure blocks located withinsaid openings, means for preventing sliding movement between saidpressure blocks and said contacts, and wedge means capable of separatingsaid pressure blocks for forcing said pressure blocks and said contactmembers outwardly against the walls of said openings, said pressureblocks' being channel shaped in cross section.

4. In a relay having lxed and movable contacts, a means for supportingsaid contacts in an insulating manner comprising, a contact supportblock provided with a plurality of openings having insulated walls, aplurality of contact members and contact pressure blocks located withinsaid openings, means for preventing sliding movement between saidpressure blocks and said contact members and wedge means capable offorcing said pressure blocks and said contact members outwardly againstthe insulated walls of said openings, said pressure blocks being channelshaped in cross section and used in pairs with the open sides of saidchannels facing each other, said wedges being received Within the spacesformed by said pairs of pressure blocks.

5. In a relay having fixed and movable contacts, a means for supportingsaid contacts in an insulating manner comprising, a contact supportblock provided with a plurality of openings having insulated walls, aplurality of contact members and contact pressure blocks located withinsaid openings, means for preventing sliding movement between saidpressure blocks and said contact members, and wedge means capable offorcing said pressure blocks and said contact members outwardly againstthe insulated walls of said support block openings, said means forpreventing sliding movement between said pressure blocks and saidcontact members comprising projections on said pressure blocks beingreceived within openings in said contact members.

6. A contact support comprising, a plurality of contact members, aninsulated support block having a plurality of openings, said openingsbeing spanned by bridge members integral with said support block, aplurality of channel shaped insulated pressure blocks having taperedinternal surfaces and being provided with projections positioned to bereceived within openings in said contact members, wedge members receivedbetween said tapered surfaces of opposed pressure blocks, said pressureblocks being disposed in pairs for each contact block opening, anopening in each of said bridge members, securing screws inserted throughsaid openings in said bridge members and threaded into openings in saidwedge members, whereby the tightening of said securing screws causessaid wedge members to force said pressure blocks outwardly against saidcontact members and the side Walls of said openings in said insulatedsupport block.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,214,177 Raybould Sept. 10, 1940 2,258,122 Merkel Oct. 7, 19412,348,088 Nichols May 2, 1944 2,472,690 Atherton June 7, 1949 2,679,031Jaidinger May 18, 1954 FOREIGN PATENTS 386,848 France Apr. 24, 1908379,682 Germany Aug. 27, 1923

